Last week was a busy and exciting week for me, I finally got to meet Erica from Biscuits and Pieces, my boyfriend made a surprise visit, I watched Eurovision with my homies and my best friend returned from her world travels!!!!

In amongst all this fun, I finally made a cheesecake for my work colleagues. Many of you don’t know, unless you’ve seen me moaning on Twitter, I’ve been rather poorly for the last year. But now I’m finally on the mend and getting on with my life 🎉. One big step I’ve recently taken, has been returning back to work, although I’m not back full time yet! I started making cheesecakes as a hobby about 10 months ago and started my blog as a channel of giving me purpose and a distraction from my illness. That meant my work buddies had only ever seen my creations but hadn’t actually tasted them.

I thought I’d make mini bitesize cheesecakes, perfect for transporting to the office and less faff than cutting and dishing out a large cheesecake. And who doesn’t love Biscoff?! Thankfully they went down a treat, and as I only work in a small office, there were six left over. However, by the time I’d got home, the left over Biscoff cheesecakes had all been gobbled up by my sneaky step dad! So, 12 mini cheesecakes lasted a grand total of 8 hours. If that doesn’t scream MAKE ME I don’t know what does.

I have to pre-warn you so you don’t make the same mistake as I did, you might want to buy two jars of Biscoff cookie spread. One for you and one for the cheesecakes, trust me on this one. I learned this after two trips to Tesco because I ate the first Biscoff jar with a spoon. 👀

These were so delicious I made them twice last week! If you want to have a go at making these 12 miniature Biscoff cheesecakes you will need, a loose-based mini bites dessert tin, 3 piping bags and a 2D Wilton nozzle. If you don’t own this marvellous Lakeland tin, you could use a normal muffin tin and small cupcake cases but the amount the mixture makes might vary.

Ingredients

For base:

14 lotus Biscoff cookies

3 tbsp of unsalted butter

For filling:

150 grams of soft/cream cheese

3 tbsp of icing sugar

4 tbsp of smooth Biscoff cookie butter spread

125 ml double cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For decoration:

125 ml double cream

1 tbsp icing sugar

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

1 tbsp of smooth Biscoff cookie butter spread, melted

6 Lotus Biscoff cookies, halved

1 Lotus Biscoff cookie, crushed

Step 1: If you are using a similar tin to mine, roughly cut 12 little squares of baking paper and pop in to the bottom of each mould. Next place the lotus Biscoff biscuits into a large mixing bowl, using the end of a rolling pin or tool of your choice, crush the cookies into a fine crumb. Add the melted butter, and mix until thoroughly combined. Use a teaspoon to distribute the crumbed biscuit between 12 of the holes. Using a press or teaspoon, pack the biscuits down.

Step 2: In a clean large mixing bowl, mix the soft cheese, icing sugar and Biscoff cookie butter together, using a spatula. Into the same bowl, using a spatula again, mix in the double cream. If it is too loose, whisk it using an electric whisk until thick. Finally, fold in the vanilla.

Step 3: I find it easier and less messy to pipe the cheesecake into the holes. So scoop the mix into a disposable piping bag, snip off the end and pipe into the 12 holes with Biscoff cookie bases. Place in the fridge for 2-3 hours or until set.

Step 4: Once the cheesecakes are set remove them from the individual moulds. Pour the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla into your mixer, using the whisk attachment whip the cream until thick enough to pipe. Scoop a quarter of the double cream into the piping bag with a 2D nozzle, at a time and pipe like a mr whippy. *If you put it all in the bag at once it becomes over whipped.

Step 5: Pour the melted Biscoff cookie butter into a piping bag, snip the tip of the piping bag off, and drizzle over each of the mini Biscoff cheesecakes. Cut six of the biscuit in half, place a half onto each cheesecake. Crush one lotus cookie into a fine crumb and sprinkle on top of each cheesecake. Keep them in the fridge until you want to eat them. *the Biscoff cookies go soft in the fridge so don’t put them on until you want to serve them.